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Series 1: Episode 1 (Ashes to Ashes)
The first episode of the first series of the British time-travel police procedural television series, Ashes to Ashes, was first broadcast on 7 February 2008. The episode, known erroneously as "Déjà Vu", was produced by Kudos Film & Television for BBC One. Synopsis 21st-century DI Alex Drake seemingly wakes up in 1981 after being shot by has-been criminal mastermind Arthur Layton. Quickly deducing that she is in the same basic position as DCI Sam Tyler, whose case she reviewed, she enlists the help of DCI Gene Hunt and the rest of his team to hunt down Layton and his drug-dealing ring. Plot 2008 DI Alex Drake is taking her daughter Molly to school on the latter's birthday. Whilst in the car, she and Molly discuss her latest case study: the suicide the preceding April of DCI Sam Tyler, who, during a comatose period following a 2006 car accident, came to believe he was trapped in 1973. Along the way, Drake receives a call informing her of a hostage situation underway. She parks nearby and directs Molly to stay in the car while she attends to the situation. The hostage-taker is down-and-out Arthur Layton. Alex finds Layton clutching an unnamed woman and holding a revolver to her head, their backs overlooking the bank of the Thames, and learns from the police officer at the scene that Layton had demanded to speak specifically with her by name. When Alex gets close enough, Layton releases his hostage, instead threatening Alex with his revolver. Although his name and aged face mean nothing to Drake, Layton claims to know her and that she has her father's eyes. Drake is shocked when he twice recites the lyrics "I'm happy, hope you're happy too," and mimics an explosion sound. At that moment Molly, who had disobeyed Alex's instruction to remain in the car, runs to her and is grabbed by Layton as a new hostage; he leads her down the steps to the riverbank, threatening to kill her if followed. A frantic Alex dashes down when hearing a gunshot, but finds Molly to have been released unharmed and Layton gone. After the hostage situation, Alex explains to Molly, "It's a hard, screwed-up world but, if you trust me, I will try to help you get through it." Alex then leaves her in the care of their mutual godfather Evan White while Alex attends to reports, promising to be at Molly's birthday party in time to blow out the candles on her cake together. Later in the same morning, Layton hides in the back seat of Alex's car and, with his revolver to her head, orders her to drive. Whilst they walk down the gangplank to an old barge, Layton calls Alex "my ticket out of here", and proceeds to place a telephone call to someone to whom he tells he has "a piece of your past in front of me; Tim and Caroline Price's daughter; and I'm going to tell her the truth about why her parents died." The other party's reaction is not what Layton wants, as he replies, "Well, that's your choice," before ending the call. In the barge, he tells Alex that, "I had an empire. Back in the day, I had connections; I had dealers on every street corner." Ignoring Alex's pleas and attempts at negotiation, he shoots her in the head and she loses consciousness, without learning about her parents' death. The party whom Layton telephones in 2008 is not yet revealed conclusively. At the end of episode 1.8, "Alex's Big Day", Alex opines that Evan White is whom Layton calls, explaining, "I'm the piece of his White's past, or I will be. He'll be blackmailed by Layton for not telling the truth." Alex passes out As happened to Tyler when he first lost consciousness, Alex sees a series of fleeting visions, several in slow motion, most appearing as non sequiturs, after hearing Molly's voice call out, "Mummy, Mummy?" The images are: * The bullet flying in slow motion backwards into the muzzle of Layton's revolver; * A deep-voiced Clown Angel of Death dressed in a pierrot costume resembling that worn by David Bowie in the music video for Ashes to Ashes and on the corresponding record jacket; * Herself as young Alex Price, dressed in a red blazer, red beret, and red plaid skirt, carrying a large red balloon by its red string (not unlike Tyler's fleeting image of WPC Annie Cartwright in a red dress); * A low-angle view up toward her father, Tim Price, wearing eyeglasses and looking stoic; * A low-angle view up toward her mother, Caroline Price, placing a bag into the back of a blue Ford Escort and closing the hatchback; * A close-up view down toward the large hand of a man and his dark sleeve, gently reaching for her own small, childhood hand which releases the red balloon string; they are standing on grass; * A sped-up view up toward the red balloon ascending in the sky; * The Clown calling toward her; * A view out through a automobile of her assailant, Arthur Layton, walking along the road as a young man and turning to look at her; * The Clown calling to her and appearing in the reflection of Layton's mirrored sunglasses as he aims his revolver at her a moment earlier; and * The bullet leaving Layton's muzzle, its tip faintly reflecting the Clown's face as the Clown shouts, "Alex!" The images of her childhood self, parents, the balloon, young Layton, Escort, and the dark-suited man have the appearance of vintage videotape, playing normally, and tracking in fast-forward and reverse. Unlike the clown and old Layton's revolver, the memory images are silent but for the whirl of videotape being cued. 1981 Alex then wakes up in a short red dress in the middle of a drugs-filled boat party in 1981. She pushes her way off of the boat, the Lady Di, just as police raid the party. As she staggers around in a daze, unsuccessfully pleading for help from the police and claiming to have been shot, one of the yuppies from the boat—later identified as Edward Markham—grabs her and begins to threaten her, believing she had phoned the police. In the nick of time, a red Audi Quattro charges round the corner, driven by Gene Hunt and carrying Chris Skelton and Ray Carling. Hunt and the others believe Alex to be a prostitute and that Markham may be armed, and draw their sidearms accordingly. Hunt tells Markham, "Today, my friend, your diary entry will read, 'Took a prozzie hostage and was shot by three armed bastards.'" Carling and Skelton withdraw semi-automatic pistols with inexplicably empty chambers, necessitating that each perform the 1980s television police cliché of "racking" his slide to chamber his first round; Hunt, meanwhile withdraws a blue .357 magnum with a six-inch barrel revolver. Alex persuades Markham to surrender in order to avoid the "fatality outcome" for which she asserts the police are looking. Skelton slams Markham's head against the car while arresting him. Hearing Markham address Gene as "Mr. Hunt" and Gene, in turn, address Chris and Ray by their given names, Alex recognises them from Tyler's story. Confused by the impossibility of the situation, she asks "DC Chris Skelton? DS Ray Carling?" Each answers in the affirmative, surprised that the strangely well-educated prostitute knows their names and ranks. Gene, by contrast, sees nothing unusual when she asks "Gene Hunt?" and faints. "My reputation precedes me," he remarks. After they pull up outside Fenchurch East police station, Alex is amazed at the reality of the situation, thinking it all an elaborate hallucination. A brief interrogation ensues between Alex and Gene. After she finds her name on an empty desk and a new warrant card, Alex and the team discover she is Gene's new DI. Gene's team applied for a transfer after the death of Sam Tyler, who apparently served faithfully with the GMP force for another seven years after the events of Life On Mars, until his untimely death the previous year. Ray explains that Sam died during a jewellery robbery. Despite express orders from Gene not to, Sam gave pursuit after the suspects and ended up plunging his car into the river—the body was never found. Confrontations ensue as Alex searches desperately for a radio to find information on her current "real" situation, remembering Sam Tyler's experiences. While Hunt believes Markham is the drug lord, on Drake's insistence they arrest Layton. While Alex is interviewing Layton, the Clown's reflection is visible in the table. Markham appears innocent and is released. Drake continues to believe that this is all a hallucination or dream. She tries to reason out her situation and find a radio to contact the "real world." She discovers that her assailant Layton is active and under occasional surveillance in Gene's world, but is considered a minor villain at worst. Drake is convinced Layton holds the key to both the drug ring and her return home, but finds it hard to convince Gene. Drake returns to Layton's warehouse (where the Clown is visible hiding behind a set of shelves) and purloins a notebook which appears to be in code. As she leaves she sees a frightening vision of the Clown. Drake sets a trap for Markham to try and smoke out Layton, but Markham is prepared and ambushes the surveillance team. He assaults Chris and kidnaps WPC Sharon ("Shaz") Granger as "insurance." With Shaz in danger, all eyes turn to Gene to lead the charge. Gene quickly deciphers Drake's stolen ledger as referring to boats and tide times, and they head for an abandoned area of the Docklands. Markham is seen unloading large bags of drugs from a boat with an extensive and well-armed team. However, Drake's suspicions are confirmed when Layton arrives and takes charge. A gun battle ensues across the river between the police and Layton's goons. Despite superior firepower, the police begin to take control and Layton flees with Shaz as a hostage. Drake sets off in pursuit and confronts Layton, but succeeds only in creating a standoff. Hunt's team reappear in Miami Vice style, having acquired a speedboat and heavy weaponry from Layton's goons. Gene unloads an entire magazine from a submachine gun towards Layton, but succeeds only in terrifying Layton and producing a minor head wound. Markham is arrested by Chris, who mockingly taunts Chris's inability to shoot him—Chris then promptly shoots Markham in the foot to prove him wrong. Drake arrests Layton—but does not, as she had hoped, return to the "real" world. The episode closes with a mysterious message from the clown, who speaks with Molly's voice through the television, saying that Drake is still lying beside the river and that "it doesn't have to hurt". Cast *DCI Gene Hunt — Philip Glenister (reintroduction) *DI Alex Drake — Keeley Hawes (first appearance) *DS Ray Carling — Dean Andrews (reintroduction) *DC Chris Skelton — Marshall Lancaster (reintroduction) *WPC Sharon 'Shaz' Granger — Montserrat Lombard (first appearance) *Caroline Price — Amelia Bullmore (first appearance) *Tim Price — Andrew Clover (first appearance) (uncredited) *Evan White — Stephen Campbell Moore (first appearance) *Sgt Viv James — Geff Francis (first appearance) *Molly Drake — Grace Vance (first appearance) *Arthur Layton — Sean Harris (first appearance) *Luigi — Joseph Long (first appearance) *The Clown — Andrew Clover (first appearance) *Young Alex — Lucy Cole (first appearance) *Edward Markham — Adam James *Jimmy — Darren Machin *Police Sergeant — Max Dowler *Zippy — puppet operated by Ronnie Le Drew *George — puppet operated by Mark Mander *Voices of Zippy and George — Roy Skelton Cast Notes Andrew Clover's website describes his role as "the Angel of Death". Andrew Clover's website, "This autumn, however, I've been playing the Angel of Death in Ashes to Ashes, and have felt more comfortable." accessed 11 February, 2008 Cultural References *Molly tells Alex in the car that she got a Blackberry for her birthday. A Blackberry is a line of mobile e-mail and smartphone devices developed by and designed by Canadian company Research In Motion (RIM) from 2003. Alex, pretending not to know what a Blackberry is, refers to the actual berry, also known as "bramble" (primarily in the North of England), that grows in hedgerows and which, like apple, can be baked in a crumble. *Arthur Layton takes a busker hostage outside the Tate Modern on the South Bank in London. The Tate Modern is a "modern art" gallery housing a collection of works of modern and contemporary art from 1900 to the present. The South Bank is an area of London immediately adjacent to the south side of the river Thames. It forms a long narrow section of riverside developments that is within the borough of Lambeth bordering the borough of Southwark (which is properly Bankside) in central London. *Alex mentions "armed response", referring to the Armed Response Unit, a unit of police officers trained to use firearms in situations where unarmed officers would be in danger. *The PC on the South Bank refers to Layton as an "IC1 male." This stands for Identity Code 1; 1 is White person, 2 is Mediterranean, Hispanic, 3 is African/Caribbean, 4 is Indian, etc., 5 is Chinese, etc., 6 is Arabic etc., and IC0 is a person of unknown origin. *Layton objects to being stared at. Scopophobia is the fear of being looked at or stared at. *Evan mentions Shakira, referring to the white female Colombian singer who first appeared in the UK charts in 2002 with the song, "Whenever, Wherever". *Alex says the police officers want a "fatality outcome." This is a made-up term. Obviously it means they want to kill Layton but "fatality" in police terms is usually used in connection with road traffic or other accidental death, or deaths accounted for as statistics. In murder, "a fatal shooting" would be a common police term. *The boat/barge in which Alex is shot by Layton is situated across the river Thames opposite the Millennium Dome, which is located on the Greenwich Peninsula in South East London. The Dome was constructed in the late 90s and was built to house The Millennium Experience to celebrate the beginning of the Third Millennium in the year 2000. It is now known as the O2 centre. *Alex awakes in 1981 on a boat named The Lady Di, named after Lady Diana Spencer. She would soon to be married to Prince Charles and take the title, Diana Princess of Wales. *Markham says, "this won't amount to a hill of beans, Mr Hunt", meaning it is of little importance. This is a common expression perhaps most famously used in the US film Casablanca (1942). Near the end, at the airfield, Rick (Humphrey Bogart) says, "it doesn't take much to see that the problems of three little people don't amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world. Someday you'll understand that." This was parodied in the US film The Naked Gun when Detective Frank Drebin (Leslie Neilson) says "it's a topsy-turvy world and maybe the problems of two people don't amount to a hill of beans, but this is our hill and these are our beans." *Looking at the computer in Gene's office, Alex says, "There's nothing on this hard-drive but the date and the time." Gene replies, "Pong, I've got Pong." In fact, Pong, an electronic tennis game, was one of the first arcade computer games launched by Atari in 1972. A home console that was plugged into TV sets via an RF cable was first released by Atari in 1975. Many imitators released very similar electronic tennis game consoles in its wake. *On seeing Alex in Gene's office, Shaz says, "Mary Magdalene! you alright?, referring to one of Jesus Christ's followers mentioned in the Bible. She was the first person to see Jesus after his resurrection. *Shaz offers Alex a can of Tab. Spotting this, Gene says, "Tab?, don't be ridiculous Granger, look at 'er—airs and graces this one, likes a drop of Bolly before she gets 'er knickers off. Back to your desk". Tab is a diet cola produced by the Coca-Cola company first introduced in 1963. It was marketed originally to "consumers who want to keep a tab on their weight." Sales fell when diet Coke was introduced on 4 July 1982. In the first episode of Life on Mars, newly arrived Sam Tyler tries to order a Diet Coke from Nelson the landlord of the Railway Arms in 1973. Bollinger is a wine production house in the champagne region of France. They produce vintage champagne under the Bollinger label. In the UK Bollinger Champagne is affectionately referred to as "Bolly". *On TV, Alex sees Zippy singing, "I'm a Little Teapot" with George on kids' show Rainbow broadcast at 12.10 in the afternoon. "I'm a Little Teapot" is a traditional children's song, but in UK comedy series, characters often sing it when going insane. *Alex switches channels to the BBC News After Noon, which was broadcast at 12.30 in the afternoon in the 80s, and was presented by Richard Baker. He did the job from 1954–1982. *Frances Coverdale is seen in a film report on the Brixton riots. The Brixton riots occurred in April 1981. Further riots occurred in July 1981 in Southall, Toxteth in Liverpool, Moss Side in Manchester, Chappletown in Leeds, and Handsworth in Birmingham. The first riots of the decade occurred in Bristol in 1980. *In the kitchenette is the famous poster known as the Athena Tennis Girl. It shows a young woman from behind walking towards the net of a tennis court with a tennis racquet in her right hand and her left hand reaching behind lifting her short tennis dress, showing she is not wearing any underwear. The photograph was taken by Martin Elliott in September 1976 and features 18-year-old Fiona Butler (now Walker), his girlfriend at the time. The photo was taken at Birmingham University, Edgbaston, Birmingham, England, using a borrowed dress, racquet, and balls. *Gene says, "transferred from GMP a year ago. I've moved on. Besides, scum is scum wherever you go." GMP is the acronym for the [[Greater Manchester Police]] force which was formed in 1974, taking the place of the Manchester and Salford Police force (1968–1974), and incorporated the former Cheshire and Lancashire police areas. *Showing Alex the seized property room, Chris says, "wait for it…. Like Tomorrow's World, innit, boss, ma'am?" referencing Tomorrow's World (1965–2002) the BBC's long-running series showcasing new developments in the world of science and technology. *When Chris and Shaz enter the CID room, Shaz is wearing a Walkman. Chris says, "it's Sony. Nabbed it off that drug dealer we nicked in the whore-house." Sony Walkman personal portable cassette players first appeared on the market in the UK and US in 1980. *Ray says about Alex, "women DIs should look like a cross between Betty Turpin and the HMS Ark Royal. They should not be shag-worthy." Betty Turpin was a much-loved character from Granada TV's soap opera Coronation Street from 1969–2010. She was a large lady, originally married to a police officer, who became the longest-serving barmaid at the Rovers Return pub. She was played by Betty Driver. HMS Ark Royal was the name of several Royal Navy aircraft carriers. One was decommissioned in 1979 and a new one was launched in 1981. In the UK, "shag" means to have sex with, and "shag-worthy" is some one who looks worth shagging, i.e., having sex with. Not to be confused with the US dance "the Shag", or the sea-bird, or Shaggie's (from Scooby Doo) uncle Shagworthy, or the golf-ball company Shagworthy. *Alex, talking about crime lords, says to Gene, "they are not out to impress northern flat-foots like you." "Flat-foot" is a derogatory term for uniformed PCs or any police officer who walks a beat. *Grabbing Alex's left breast, Gene says, "Fan-dabi-dozi! Now then, Bollinger-knickers, are you going to kiss me or punch me?" "Fan-dabi-dozi", which means "fantastic", was a phrase popularised by The Krankies, a UK comedy duo made up of husband and wife Janette and Ian Tough who were from Scotland. Janette, who was very short, took the part of a cheeky school boy in shorts and cap named wee Jimmy Krankie, who was prone to exclaim, "Fan-dabi-dozi" at moments of high excitement. The duo became well known from 1980. *Alex refers to her surroundings as a dystopia, and Chris remarks, "Dystopia? I had that once—couldn't eat solids for a week," confusing it with "dysentery", an infection of the intestines marked by severe diarrhoea. *Shaz says to Alex, "like this was your destiny?" with Chris remarking, "like Ben Kenobi in Star Wars." Star Wars, released in 1977, was a US film directed by George Lucas featuring Ben Kenobi, a.k.a, Obi Wan (Alec Guinness), as Luke Skywalker's (Mark Hamill) mentor who talked of Skywalker's destiny. A sequel, The Empire Strikes Back was released in 1980. *There is an entire scene with the children's characters [[:wikipedia:Zippy (Rainbow)|'Zippy']] and [[:wikipedia:George (Rainbow)|'George']] (from [[:wikipedia:Rainbow (TV series)|'Rainbow']]) talking to Molly Drake, with Zippy wearing a police cap and carrying a police truncheon. *The [[The_Clown|'Clown Angel of Death']]'s pierrot costume is modeled on David Bowie's costume in the music video and record jacket/sleeve of the 7-inch single release of "Ashes To Ashes". *When Alex enters the CID room, Shaz is spraying her hair. Chris says, "Is she or Isn't she?" This is a reference to the TV ad campaign for Harmony Hairspray in which not being able to tell if the girl in the ads was using hairspray was a running theme. The TV ads began using that line in 1978 and continued to do so well into the 80s. *Chris Skelton (Marshall Lancaster) and others sing, "[[:wikipedia:Shaddap You Face|'Shaddap You Face']]" by Joe Dolce, a 1981 novelty hit which parodies Italian English, in front of Luigi. *When Alex is in her flat, "[[:wikipedia:Ashes to Ashes (song)|'Ashes To Ashes']]", sung by David Bowie, can be heard as the LP, Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps) plays on the record player. Bowie's album was released in September 1980. "Ashes to Ashes" is track 4 on side 1. *Gene says, "new broom swinging." Alex interjects, "sweeping." Gene continues, "comes in looking to make a quick collar and trying to impress the troops," referencing the expression, "a new broom sweeps clean", meaning that a new leader often makes large changes in an organisation. *Gene says, "Markham is a right banker," a subtle use of the rhyming slang "merchant banker" meaning "wanker". *Pre-paid phonecards were first introduced in the UK in the late 70s, and the US in 1987. They were invented in 1975 in Italy. *Alex mentions her secondment to the CIA in Langley, Virginia. *Shaz says to Alex, "here you go ma'am, fresh clothes like you wanted. Got 'em off a lady who was killed by a Timothy White's van." Timothy White's was originally a chain of dispensing chemist and hardware shops created by Timothy White in 1848. In 1968, Boots the Chemist bought the company, after which the stores continued under the Timothy White's name but no longer acted as dispensing chemists, only as hardware outlets. Boots kept the chemist side of the business strictly to their own branded outlets. *Markham says, "time to talk turkey." Gene replies, "gobble away." To "talk turkey" means to talk frankly. *"Twonk" and "Plonker" are two made-up terms popularised by John Sullivan in his BBC sitcom, Only Fools and Horses... from 1981 onward. Both words mean a stupid idiot. *The scene in which Gene, Chris, and Ray rescue Shaz, and later, Alex, is done in a style parodying [[wikipedia:Miami Vice|'Miami Vice']], which featured loud, fantastic scenes involving speed boats, cocaine, blazing gun battles, and the police. The scene takes place in July 1981, whereas Miami Vice did not air until 28 September 1984 in the United States and 12 February 1985 in the United Kingdom, three and a half years after the scene is set. *The scene where Alex Drake first meets Gene Hunt has a shot framing Hunt between Alex's legs. This is a reference to the promotional poster for the 1981 James Bond film, [[:wikipedia:For Your Eyes Only (film)|'For Your Eyes Only']]. The poster is seen later on the wall in the kitchenette. *When Alex says, "I'd like to get out of red before [[:wikipedia:Chris de Burgh|'Chris de Burgh']] writes a song about me," she is talking about de Burgh's song, "[[:wikipedia:The Lady in Red (Chris de Burgh song)|'The Lady in Red']]", released in 1986, five years after this episode is set. *Ray mentions that "cocaine" is called "charlie" and Gene says, "oh, and there was me thinking it was bloody perfume", referencing the Revlon perfume Charlie released in 1973 and named after Charles Revlon. It was launched as a rival to Estee Lauder's "Estee" perfume. *Chris says, "I need a Jimmy Riddle." Rhyming slang: Jimmy Riddle—piddle, meaning to pee. *Seargeant Viv James informs Gene by radio that Arthur Layton has a boat named Prince Charlie. The episode takes place in July 1981, days prior to the 29 July 1981 wedding of [:Princess of Wales|Lady Diana Spencer] to Prince Charles which serves as a backdrop for the following episode. Goofs In this episode the date seen on the computer in Gene's office is 17th July 1981, but when at the end of episode 2 Alex sets out her table of months leading up to 10th October 1981, the day that her parents are killed, which is seen throughout the rest of this series, she has marked 20th July with the word arrived circled in red, meaning the date on the computer in this episode must be an error. Appearances *DS Ray Carling *DC Chris Skelton *WPC Sharon Granger |other characters= *Viv James *Molly Drake *Arthur Layton *Edward Markham *Zippy and George *Sam Tyler |creatures= *The Clown |events= |locations= *London *Fenchurch East |organizations= *Metropolitan Police |vehicles= *Audi Quattro *Lady Di *Prince Charlie |technology= *Pong *Television |miscellanea= *2008 *1981 *1980 *Tab *Bollinger }} Production Shooting script The shooting script of this episode is available in the "writersroom" section of the BBC website (http://www.bbc.co.uk/writersroom/scripts/ashes-to-ashes-s1-ep1). It includes various scenes and passages of dialogue omitted from the final episode, including the revelation that Gene's wife left him for another woman. The script also suggests the use of Queen's "Flash" (over the climactic confrontation with Layton) and John Lennon's "Imagine" (over the final montage), neither of which is heard in the finished episode. It is also available along with the original outline for episode one at the Monastic Productions website. This outline is darker than the shooting script. It begins in a similar way, with Alex being called to the river side where an armed man is holding a black woman at gunpoint. During the confrontation, he recognizes Alex, rather than already knowing her as in the finished episode. After he has been arrested and taken to the station, Alex, who is unaware that her parents were killed, checks the internet for information and encounters the clown via the computer. Later, she and Molly are abducted and taken to a warehouse by two armed men in league with Layton. Whilst trying to escape, Alex falls through a hole in the floor, crashing to the ground below and awaking in 1981 during a shoot-out between police and drug dealers in the local red-light district. Also of note is that Gene and the team are not as before. Chris, for example, is a cocaine user and Gene is turning a blind eye to a big drug smuggling operation, and it is Alex's influence that revitalises the team and pulls them back to being their old selves again. Oh, and Shaz is a mere typist, not a WPC. Music Music featured in the episode includes: *Ashes to Ashes - David Bowie *Are 'Friends' Electric? - Tubeway Army *Vienna - Ultravox *Same Old Scene - Roxy Music *No More Heroes - The Stranglers *I Fought The Law - The Clash *I'm In Love With A German Film Star - The Passions *Careless Memories - Duran Duran *Shaddap You Face - Joe Dolce (performed by Marshall Lancaster, et al.) Reception Based on overnight returns, The Guardian reported that audience figures for the 7 February 2008 broadcast of this episode, in a 9:00 pm slot on the flagship channel, BBC One, were seven million: about 29% of viewers. The figure was "in line with the final episode of Life on Mars in April last year, though well up on the earlier show's second series debut of 5.7 million two months earlier," but The Guardian noted "the heavy publicity blitz this week for Ashes to Ashes" as a factor in its success against the opposition.Ashes burns up the opposition, The Guardian, 8 February, 2008 Critical reactions to this first episode were mixed,A perfectly smooth change of gear, by Robert Hanks, The Independent, 8 February, 2008, retrieved 08 02 2008 with positive reviews from The Daily Telegraph,Last night on television: Ashes to Ashes (BBC1) - Cutting Edge: Who Killed the Playboy Earl? (Channel 4) by Gerard O'Donovan, The Daily Telegraph, 8 February, 2008 The HeraldBack in the Day when PC meant Copper by David Belcher, The Herald, 8 February, 2008 The Spectator,[http://www.spectator.co.uk/coffeehouse/492961/in-praise-of-ashes-to-ashes.thtml In praise of Ashes to Ashes], by Matthew d'Ancona, The Spectator, February 8, 2008 and the New StatesmanLet's do the time warp again, by Rachel Cooke, New Statesman, 7 February, 2008 and negative reviews from The Times,Ashes to Ashes, TV review by Andrew Billen, The Times, January 16, 2008 Newsnight Review,NewsNight Review, 7 February, 2008, on BBC iPlayer, duration 35 minutes, requires Windows XP or Windows Vista and The Guardian, which described the episode as "actually pretty bad".Last night's TV - Sam Wollaston, The Guardian The popular national free sheet, Metro, gave the episode four stars as "a vote of faith" on what it described as "a dodgy start".Ashes To Ashes could be a slow-burner - Keith Watson, Metro 2008-02-08 Gene Hunt Reactions to the return of Philip Glenister as Gene Hunt were overwhelmingly positive. His characteristic bluntness drew much attention. In an interview with The National Student, Glenister himself chose, "Today, my friend, your diary entry will read: took a prozzie hostage and was shot by three armed bastards" as a personal favourite quote from this episode, Philip Glenister interview, The National Student, accessed 12 February. 2008 and commentators also cited it. From Life on Mars to Ashes to Ashes, Philip Glenister interview with Stephen Armstrong, The Times, January 27, 2008Ashes to Ashes: Hot fuzz, Craig McLean, wikipedia:The Daily Telegraph, January 26, 2008DCI Gene Hunt is back and up to his old tricks but actor Philp Glenister says in reality he's a family man, interview with Philip Glenister, Tim Oglethorpe, Daily Mail, February 1, 2008 References Category:Ashes to Ashes episodes